December 30, 2024 | 10:33am
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the P6.326-trillion budget for 2025 on Monday, December 30, making an eleventh-hour decision to veto P194 billion worth of items he deemed “not consistent with our programmed priorities.”
Unlike his previous budget signings which were done at least 10 days before year-end, Marcos delayed the approval by 10 days and signed the 2025 General Appropriations Act on December 30. He had postponed it to conduct “an exhaustive and thorough review” of the spending plan Congress ratified on December 11.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin had telegraphed the president’s intent days earlier, warning of incoming vetoes “in the interest of public welfare” and “in compliance with laws.”
“After an exhaustive and thorough review, we identified P194 billion worth of line items that are not consistent with our programmed priorities,” Marcos said during the signing ceremony in Malacañang.
The president earlier faced pressure to veto the entire budget over controversial allocations, including the P26-billion Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) which critics, including retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio likened to pork barrel.
The Department of Education also lost P10 billion from its computerization program during the congressional deliberations, while funds for the subsidy of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) were gutted altogether.
However, Marcos saw no need to return the entire budget bill to Congress, which was dominated by his allies. “A re-enacted budget will set us back, delay our vital programs, jeopardize targets for economic growth, including our goals of achieving single-digit poverty levels and upper-middle income status,” Marcos said.
Instead of a total veto, Marcos said he removed allocations for certain programs and projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways, “and those under the unprogrammed appropriations, which increased by 300 percent.”
The president also announced that certain budget items would be subject to conditional implementation to ensure proper fund utilization. This includes the AKAP program, which will now be implemented not just by the Department of Social Welfare and Development but also by the Department of Labor and Employment and the National Economic Development Authority.
“This way, we ensure that its implementation will be strategic, leading to the long-term improvement of the lives of qualified beneficiaries while guarding against misuse and duplication and fragmented benefits,” Marcos said.
Budget increases and new items will undergo “cash programming, applicable budget execution rules, and vetting and approval of the concerned offices,” Marcos added.
The new budget law, Republic Act 12116, takes effect Jan. 1, 2025.
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